John fehbenbatch



(NoModeL) J. FEHRENBATGH.

- GANE MILL.

No. 304,813. Patented Sept. 9, 1884 a;rummmmnmum H"' lIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIHllillllillllii INVENTOR.

WITNESSES,

ihvrrnn STATES FFlClie.

ATENT JOHN FEHRENBATGH, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-THIRDS TODAVID W. MCGLUNG, OF SAME PLACE.

MILL.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 30l,813,dated September9, 1884.

Application filed November 17, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN FEHRENBATCH, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in thecounty of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Cane-Mills; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical sectional view of my improved cane-mill. Fig. 2 isa cross-section of the same on line 00 m, Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a sectional View, on an enlargedscale, of the steam pan or chamber; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe slitted steam-pipe.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention has relation to that class of cane-mills in which the caneis subjected to the action of jets of steam alternately with pressure ofthe rollers while passing through the mill, thereby dissolving thecrystals of sugar and increasing the yield of juice; and it consists inthe improved construction and combination of parts of such'a machine, ashereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates the frame of themill, which may be of any. desired construction, forming bearings forthe gudgeons or axles'of the several rollers, and provided with suitablemeans for collecting the expressed canejuic'e.

B and G are the feed-rollers, having axles B and C, and journaled in theupper portion of one end of the frame, the upper one, B, of whichrollers has a flange, b, at its ends, corresponding to and fitting intoa shoulder or step formed upon the ends of the lower feedroller,preventing the cane from slipping out at the ends of the rollers whenbeing pressed or spread by the pressure.

An inclined chute,'E, having a platform, 1), at its upper end, andsecured in the fraine by means of bolts 6, passing through the sides ofthe frame and through perforatedlugs f, extends downwardly-inclined fromthe feed-rollers, and a cutting or chopping cylinder, F, is journaledabove the inclined chute, and pro vided with slitting or chopping knivesF, which I prefer to arrange so as to cut lengthwise with the directionof the revolution, the edges of the knives being at right angles to theaxis of the cylinder.

A steam-pipe, G, having a longitudinal slit, 9, is secured transverselyabove the upper end of the inclined chute, its slit opening so as tovemit a continuous sheet of steam upon the inclined chute. and downnearly parallel with the same. The lower end of the inclined chutenearly impinges upon one, I, of the three pressure-rollers H, I, and Q,which rollers are journaled in suitable adjustable bearings, the ,upperone, H, bearing against portions of the surfaces of the two lowerrollers. The upper roller, H, is provided with a flange, h, at each end,fitting into the shouldered ends of; the lower rollers, and preventingthe crushed cane from spreadingover the ends of the rollers, and in thespace between the two lower rollers is placed a steam pan or chamber, J,forming a step, L, or offset at its upper portion, and an extended edge,K, which nearly impinges upon the roller 1. t

A steam-pipe, N, having an inlet, 0, and

outlet T, enters a chamber, M, formed under the top of the pan orchamber, and the entire chamber is secured to the sides of the frame bymeans of lugs It, the steam thus heating the pan, and the verticalrearwardly-ihcing side of the offset or shoulder L has a transverse 5slit, P, through which a continuous sheet of steam is emitted parallelwith the top of the pan, and in the direction of the rear or dischargeend of the pan.

A suitable bagasse-carrier may be placed at 9 the rear end of the frame,or any other suitable means for disposing of the bagasse, the drawingsshowing no such means, as they are not included in my improvements.

The direction of the revolution of the several rollers, which arerotated by suitable connections and gearings, is indicated by arrows.

The cane is fed in between the feed-rollers,

4 the most juice when pressed.

the bearings of which are yielding, so as to yield to any unevenness ofthe layer of cane fed, and passes onto the platform at the upper end ofthe inclined chute and down upon the latter, in which passage it issubjected to the action of the slitting or chopping cylinder, whichexposes the interior of the cane to the action of the sheet of steampassing out of the slit'pipe, the steam dissolving the crystals of sugarcontained in the cane, and at the same time by its force loosening thefibers of the same, rendering it in a condition fit to yield From thelower end of the inclined chute the cane, which is now soft and quitedisintegrated or loosened in its consistence, passes between theperiphery of the upper pressure-roller and the forward roller, I, of thelower pressure-rollers, the juice passing over the top of the lowerroller, between it and the lower edge of the inclined chute, while thepressed cane passes down upon the steam-pan, where theheat will serve todissolve the remaining sugar crystals, together with the sheet of steampassing out of the transverse slit in the shoulder of the pan, which,coming from below and passing under the crushed cane, will again loosenit and dissolve the sugar. The crushed cane, thus heated and loosened,will thereupon pass between the periphery of the upper pressure rollerand the rear one, Q, of the lower rollers, which will express theremaining juice and dissolved sugar, which passes between the rear lowerroller and the rear edge of the steampan, while the bagasse passes outbetween the rollers and is disposed of in any suitable manner.

It will thus be seen that the slitted or chopped cane is first subjectedto a disintegrating and dissolving stream or sheet of steam from abovethe layer of cane, thereupon pressed, again subjected to adisintegrating and dissolving stream or sheet of steam, this time frombelow the layer of cane, together with heat, and then finally pressed,thus thoroughly working the cane; and it will also be seen that byhaving the steam passing out in one continuous unbroken sheet throughthe slits all the ca-ne in the layer will be subjected to its action, noparticle of cane remaining untouched; so, also, the slits will easierclean themselves from any impurities collected in them than perforationsin the steam-pipes now in general use in this kind of mills, for thereason that the impurities will be forced by the steam to slide alongthe slit, if they are too large to pass through it, forcing them intothe discharge end of the steam-pipe, from whence they are'carried off bythe exhaust-steam, while, in perforated pipes, the perforations willcatch and detain the impurities.

It follows that the steampipes, which may lead from the boiler,supplying the steam for running the mill, or from any other suitablesteam-generator, may be provided with any approved means for regulatingthe How of steam.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. The combination, in a cane-mill,of an upper pressure-roller, two lower pressure-rollersjournaled belowand to both sides of the said upper roller, and a steam pan or chamberforming an offset in its top, having a transverse slit in itsrearwardly-faeing side adapted to emit a continuous unbroken sheet ofsteam parallel with the surface of the pan or chamber, the said steampan or chamber being placed below the periphery of the upper roller andbetween the lower rollers, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. The combination, in a cane-mill, of a downwardly-inchned chutereceiving the cane to be pressed, a slitting or chopping cylinderjournaled above the said chute, a longitudinally-slitted transversesteam-pipe secured be tween the upper end of the chute and the slit tingor chopping cylinder, an upper pressureroller, a forward and rear lowerpressure-roller, and a steam pan or chamber forming arearwardly-faeingoffset having a transverse slit, and placed between the lower rollers,all constructed to operate as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a caneunill, the combination of the feed-rollers, the slittedsteam-pipe, the slitting or chopping cylinder, the inclined chutesecured between the sides of the casing below the slitting or choppingcylinder and the steampipe, the three pressure -rollers, arranged asshown, and the steam-pan arranged between the said rollers, and having asteamou'tlet, whereby the cane is subjected to the dissolving action ofsteam as it is received upon and travels over the pan, as and for thepurpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as "my own I have hereuntoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J OHN FEHRENBATCH.

\Vitnesses:

Louis BAGGER, Aueusr Pn'rnnsoN.

